Late Shows

Posted on August 20, 2017

On Sunday night we hung out at the Ship & Anchor for a special screening of cult classic FEAST (2005) and a shakedown of our creepier, darker, weirder side of the festival lineup known as the Late Shows Series. The crowd poured in to get their weekend fix of cheesy horror flicks, Big Rock beer, and popcorn. Before the screening, Programming Manager & Late Shows Programmer Brenda Lieberman took to the stage to announce four exciting titles that will be coming to the festival this fall.

In attendance was director Rob Grant who came to chat about our very first announcement of the series, FAKE BLOOD which is something of an enigma. He and his co-director Mike Kovac have a history of creating horror movies and after their last feature release, MON AMI (2012) they received some very concerning feedback from a fan. Our host Kendra sat down with Grant on Facebook Live to try to wrangle in some details, but he was set on evading any questions that might reveal what was fact and what was fiction throughout the film.

"When me and Mike got a creepy email from a fan of our last movie talking about what tools he would use to chop up a corpse it kind of made us realize we have to start considering, what’s our responsibility here?” Grant and Kovac decide to take it upon themselves to immerse themselves in dangerous situations in an attempt to understand the very things they emulated in their movies, admitting that they really didn’t know anything about real-life violence. For Grant it began as a moral battle of sorts, "I’ve never been in a fight, I’ve never done any of this stuff, so what gives me the right to film this stuff on screen?”

This is a genre-bending film that investigates the responsibility of filmmakers in portraying violence in movies, taking the viewer on a wild journey that toes the line between documentary and drama with endless twists and surprises. Inevitably you will find yourself asking where the reality ends and the story begins.

Also announced at the screening party was BITCH, a dark and provocative film that balances a perspective on the horrors of a crumbling nuclear family; THE MISANDRISTS, which shows a kick-ass team of feminist terrorists set for a revolution; and LOWLIFE, a wacky, violent and dark comedy about three unlikely allies. Previously announced Late Shows films include BUCKOUT ROAD and TRAGEDY GIRLS.